The Collector's Edition
by sinner316
Summary: Rare and beautiful objects are hard to come by, but for The Collector, it's a simple game of cat and mouse, hunter and the hunted, and for those who fall into his scavenging, outstretched claws, its a caged existence as they are collected and stored away, one by one.
1. Chapter 1

Clarissa Fairchild didn't know how long she had been standing in the single beam of sunlight streaming through the only window cut from the stone wall facing the west. The way that the golden streams of warmth filtered through the iron bars, wrapping her in a lover's embrace, reminded her of how precious the simplest of things could be.

Behind her towered three stone walls, their cool, cement walls pressing against her back as she stared out of the window. The wooden floor beneath her barren feet creaked as she shifted from one foot to another, her soles aching under her weight as she swayed lazily to a silent melody in her head.

The room was sparsely furnished, a single iron bed frame topped with a flattened feather mattress was her only source of comfort in the otherwise cold and hard room. She was lucky enough to have her own chamber pot, a humbling piece of painted glass that sat at the foot of her bed, reminding her of the life she was living.

The air smelled of stale bread and aging cheese, an old, rusted silver platter piled high with days old leftovers laying abandoned just inside the wooden door that led to an unknown place outside her small cell. She had never seen that door open since she had been brought here, stolen from her home in the middle of the night. She wondered if there were other rooms like her's, cold and unwelcoming. She shuddered at the thought of others being trapped in this cruel place, cut off from their families, destined to live a life of forced solitude and for what?

Why had she been brought here? Who had brought her here?

These questions plagued her every waking moment from the time her eyelids fluttered open until she forced them closed to shut out the shadows that came in the night.

The sun was her only constant companion, save the _thing _that brought her here. Her days were spent waiting for the sun's warmth to descend towards the western horizon, where she would meet it at her window to watch the sun disappear behind the Earth's natural curve. Even now the sun had begun to settle against the darkening night sky, painting the universe in a vast array of stunning pink and orange hues.

For those brief moments, standing in the light and warmth, Clary could close her eyes and almost fool herself into believing that she was anywhere else in the world. Anywhere, but here.

A beach. A warm cottage. A brilliantly lit castle.

Home.

She thought of home. A lot.

Clary swallowed the rising lump in her throat at the thought of home, letting her mind drift into a state of restfulness as her body soaked in the last minutes of sunlight. She knew that the shadow's weren't far behind, ushering the sun from the sky before turning their hungry gaze to the lingering tower in which she was held in. They watched her from the other side of the bars, peering in at the young maiden, a caged animal, trapped in a stone prison at the mercy of an even greater shadow.

The last of the sun's light was cruelly ripped from the stone beneath her feet as she chased it's warmth by leaning into the iron bars, savoring the way the light coated her like a suit of armor. It was the only protection she had against the night and it's many demons that rattled her cage, taunting her with their cries, calling for her flesh and blood.

Her mind was brought out from her spiraling thoughts when the harsh sound of metal rings assaulted her ears, the decibels ringing against the stone walls and wooden floors. She tugged at the stinging, cold metal of the color that held a tight grip around her neck, chaining her to the single piece of furniture in her room. Sometimes when she stood still for a long time, she forgot about the chains, forgot that someone, or _something_, had stolen her from her home and forced her to live like this.

Cold.

Alone.

Vulnerable.

Clary watched as the sun finally fell behind the Earth's crust and took a deep breath; they were coming.

The shadows.

Her chains rattled behind her as she felt the invisible tug, pulling her further into the depths of her cold, dark cell, not a flicker of light to guide her way as she was dragged into the darkness. The blackness was so thick, so suffocating, that Clary imagined that this was what oblivion looked like.

Oblivion. Her new home.

Clary felt the transformation as her other senses began to compensate for her lack of sight. Her ears perked up to even the slightest sound of tiny paws scattering amongst the wooden floors beneath her, the wind just outside the bars like a whistling tune in her ears. But most of all, she could feel a movement in the air, a sort of hyper awareness that allowed her to feel as though she could see everything and nothing at the same time.

Her skin tingled, tiny electrical currents mapping her skin as she settled into the night, feeling the invisible eyes of those who watched in the dark sit on their perch and gaze down at her. She didn't quite understand this unique gift, but when she really thought about it, she chalked it up to pure, survival instinct.

However, disappointingly, Clary never found the opportunity to use her new found capabilities to free her from her current imprisonment. She stood there, her feet pressing against the cold, wood floor that chafed the bottom of her heels just as she had the very first night she had been brought here.

The first night she has fought with every ounce of her strength, pounding on the door and begging her kidnapper to return her to her home, her family. But the looming shadow, the beast that held her prisoner, loomed in the darkness, it's nostril's flaring with flashes of light and eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. The beast never spoke to her, never gave her the answers to the questions she cried out into the night. Nothing. Just stared.

Clary had told herself that she was imagining things, that monsters didn't exist and kidnap girls from their beds, but this great beast returned just as she would persuade herself that she was lost in a nightmare.

Clary moved among the shadows, her hand outstretched so the tips of her fingers grazed against the cold, hard wall, her memory leading her from the window to her bed. She had memorized the layout of her cement jail, each nook and cranny cataloged in her memory, allowing her to move with ease even under the suffocating darkness.

When she felt the familiar roughness of a single stone, she knew she had made it to the other side of the room, coming to a full stop just as her knees hit the rotted, iron metal of her bed frame. She gently lowered herself to the bed, careful not to tangle herself up in the excess chains that littered the bed and floor around her, their rattling, high pitched noises seemingly bouncing off of the walls making her head spin.

It was always too quiet at night. There were no birds, at least none that she could hear. She couldn't hear any woodland creatures around, but she supposed that she was too high up to hear them scuttling around on the ground. The only sounds that she heard at night were the rattles of her chains reminding her of her captivity and the slow inhale and exhale of her breath from her chest.

Clary slowly stretched out on the cot, resting her head on the an old, flatted cushioned she used for a bed. Pulling herself into a tight ball, she unfolded a long, scratching blanket made of wool over her petite figure, thanking whoever was listening that she wasn't any taller than five feet four inches.

The bed springs creaked under her even if she didn't move and the blanket barely kept her safe from the cold, frigid nights, but it was all she had. To keep herself warm, Clary often dreamed of the bed that laid empty in her old room. A queen sized mattress with a pillow top and enough fluffy pillows to bury yourself with. It was a dream that lasted only moments before she was coldly ripped from reality all too soon.

A cold whip of unforgiving air assaulted her bare shoulder, causing her to shudder as she drew further into herself, hoping the thin, wool blanket would provide a little more protection against the night air. Her teeth began to chatter as she was pulled further and further from peaceful oblivion, but in an instant her body froze. Not because of the frigid temperatures, but because of the sound of wings, powerful wings flapping in the distance.

_The Beast._

_He was coming._


	2. Chapter 2

Blind panic forced Clary into a bolted upright position, her head swiveling in the direction her senses told her the western window would be in. She could feel the echoing tufts of wind that manifested with the each beating of the giant's wings and she shuttered against the onslaught. She could do nothing but brace herself against the swirling air, her body frozen in fear, not daring to move an inch as to alert the creature to her awakeness. Most nights, when he came to her door, she pretended to be asleep and he usually left her alone, only after staring at her for what seemed like an eternity, watching her breathe in and out for hours at a time. It was excruciating.

Suddenly, everything stopped as quickly as it had started. The air ceased to stir around her and everything became quiet, save her short, choppy breathing as her chest heaved in trepidation for what came next.

A brief moment of silence became stagnant as Clary waited in the dark.

All at once everything came to life once more. A door outside her room was thrown off its hinges as a loud roar, a mixture of a lions roar and that of what a dinosaur might sound like, signaled the arrival of her captor.

_The Beast._

_He was here._

A gust of wind stirred up the dust outside her door, but everything was pulverized when a stream of fire blasted its way through the corridor, leaving old, medieval sconces burning with enough light to illuminate everything in its path, including a small piece of her room.

The abrupt arrival of her jailor had startled Clary to her feet, but the heat and the light from the fire were what thawed her frozen limbs enough for her to move on shaky legs towards the door that led from her room into the hallway. Through the iron bars, that were hot to the touch, she could peek out into the hallway and see for herself what the Beast had brought back with him this time.

There were times when she would not see the Beast for days at a time, wondering if he had been slayed, finally defeated and she would wait for her rescuers to find her, but he always returned, usually with a treasure of some sort in his clawed grasp. Admittedly, she wondered what a Beast would need with some of the things he brought back, like chalices, swords, and even from time to time, scrolls of parchment that looked withered with age.

A great beast lurked at the end of the hallway, its massive body blocking the door to the outside world. Scales as black as night glittered like a starry night under the amber light of the burning sconces as the beast moved with heavy steps along the stone floor, its sharp talons grating against the stone in a chilling pitch.

Clary could see the powerful wings of the beast as they rested on its back, knowing that they could expand to nearly 15 feet across at their fullness. She had felt the power of their beating against the wind the night she had been taken, the sound they made against the coldness of the night like a beating of a drum that haunted her dreams.

The creature moved in an odd way and it wasn't until Clary saw that it was walking on three feet instead of four that she understood why. In the front, right claw, the beast held a boy, no a man, not much older than her in his clutches.

She gasped. The beast had never brought another living person to the tower before.

Clary wondered who the man was and what the beast wanted from him, perhaps that man didn't know as she was never given an answer.

The man had a head of hair that was crowned with beautiful, blonde hair, like a glowing halo under the burning light, his tanned skin marked with beautiful lines of black silk that peaked her interest into their meaning. He was tall from what she could tell, his feet barely dragging along the stone floor as he laid limp in the beast's grasp.

Perhaps what startled Clary the most was the large, bloody wound on the young man's face, soiling his beautiful, blonde hair with the deep, dark redness of blood. It would appear that the young man hadn't gone without a fight and with that realization Clary found herself pitying the man. There was no escaping the beast once he had hit talons in you. She had tried and failed.

The beast dragged his quarry, like a rag doll, from door to door, peering through the barred windows seemingly contemplating which cage to lock his newest prize into.

Clary watched with a horrified look on her face as the beast selected another, stone, cold cage for its newest prisoner still wrapped tightly in its grip. She felt saddened for the man to wake up in this unfamiliar place, alone and vulnerable, wondering if his family was looking for him as she had when she was first brought here.

She thought of that first night often- the night she had been taken.

It was the night before her sixteenth birthday as she laid fast asleep on the plushness of her full sized bed. She remembered dreaming of beautiful sunsets in Vienna, or breathless starry nights in Paris, but the burn of hot air pulled her out of her slumber. She awoke to pair of black, beaty eyes peering down at her and a full set of razor sharp teeth smiling down at her.

Her mouth opened up in a scream for help, but a long, slender hand had clapped down over her mouth before a single sound had come out. That was the last thing she remembered before she woke once more in the firm grasp of a large beast, miles above the earth's surface, gusts of winds beating against her face as giant wings flapped just above her.

She screamed then. A lot.

The monster that held her in its clutches did nothing to stop her, letting her shriek in terror and try to wiggle free, but when the thought of the long fall that awaited her freedom broke through her hysteria, she stilled immediately and allowed herself to be absconded in the darkness of night.

She had been in this tower ever since.

_Cold._

_Alone._

_Vulnerable._

It had been months since Clary had seen another human, only distant memories allowing her to remember that there were those outside these walls that were searching for her, who loved her and that was the only sobering thought that kept her from making any drastic decisions.

Clary was startled from her inward thoughts when a deep groan was heard coming from the only other human in the tower. Clary immediately clapped her hand to her mouth, to stop the gasp that sprang from her lips. The last thing she needed was for the beast to see her lurking at her door. As much as she felt bad for the captive male, she didn't want the beast's attention on her now… or ever.

Clary watched as the male began to stir, his shoulders that barely showed over the large grip of the beast flexed and a frown darkened his facial features.

He was waking up.

The beast must have noticed his prisoner's growing consciousness because made quick work of selecting the next wooden door as the man's prison. He immediately moved into the room, taking his prisoner with him beyond the door's threshold, taking them beyond Clary's sight.

Clary felt a knot of dread rise in her throat at the familiar rattle of chains echoing from the room as the beast restrained his prisoner within, Clary's own hand falling to the cold metal collar that rested on her neck.

The chains were unnecessary as the tower was several stories high and the wooden door were several inches thick, but Clary supposed they added to the humiliation of imprisonment and served as a reminder of their new role in this unfamiliar place.

Clary heard the heavy footsteps of the beast exit the room just two doors down from her own and quickly dashed to the side and out of site, hoping that the beast hadn't seen her lurking by the door. She waited with baited breath for the beast to leave once more like he always did, but after a few minutes of complete silence she chanced a final look out her barred window into the hallway.

What she found were two, black eyes staring back at her as large nostril flared with an orange light, an unbridled power of pure fire burning within. She went to scream and back away, but an icy magic slithered up her legs, anchoring her to her spot.

Her mind screamed for her feet to move, but it was useless as she felt herself being pulled by an invisible rope closer and closer to the wooden door until the full length of her body was pressed into the hard wood. Her face was mere centimeters from the iron bars that she had clung to moments ago, now looking into the eyes of a very large predator that had his eyes focused on her own.

He watched her from the hallway, his eyes emotionless as her mind wailed against the magic surrounding her. She felt blind panic as he mapped every inch of her with his beady eyes, feeling naked and vulnerable to his gaze even with the thin piece of cloth laying haphazardly around her shoulders.

She felt like a caged animal at a zoo, gawked at and unable to shield herself from any harm that may come to her at any moment. The once impenetrable door now felt like a tiny splinter in between her and the strength and dangerousness of the beast. What would she do if the beast decided to cross her threshold, to break down the only barrier between them?

She hoped she never had to find out.

Long, tortuous moments passed as the beast played his sick game of the cat having caught the small mouse, Clary could almost taste the smugness that radiated from the beast. But it wasn't until she saw the small flick of it's black, slithering tongue pass through the iron bars that time stood still.

She watched, panicked, as the slippery tongue danced along the skin of her cheek, branding her like a burning poker, unable to call out as the stinging pain took her breath away. She stood frozen as the beast tasted her skin, branding her his with a mark of her own fresh blood.

The stinigng pain was unbarable, she could feel the tears building behind her eyes, absolutely vulnerable to whatever else the beast had in mind for her torture- and that is exactly what this was.

This was a reminder, a declaration, of his possessive power over her and the iron-clad grip he had on her fate.

_She was at his mercy; a human pet to torment at his leisure._

This was her life now.

Cold.

Alone.

Vulnerable.

Clary felt the first stinging tear fall from her eye and slide down her cheek as a cruel smile formed along the beasts long snout. The restraints that bound her tightened immeasurably and she felt all her breath squeeze out of her in mere seconds, the strength of the grip making her knees weak, but the magic prevented her from falling to the ground.

A low rumbling pierced the silence, a deep chuckle from the beast, before all the magic was pulled from the room, the abruptness sending her falling to her knees, gasping for air on all fours.

Small, black dots formed in her vision as she pulled in each ragged breath into her burning lungs, her hands and arms shaking hard under the weight of her body. She choked out a sob as she heard the beast leave the tower in a few short flaps against the wind.

The room began to darken as one by one the sconces in the hallway begann to dim, bringing the darkness slithering back into her room. Clary cradled herself into a ball, bringing her back against the door, hoping the warmth from the sconces would find her through the door.

Clary brought her shaking hand to the burning patch of skin on her cheek and winced as her fingers barely brushed the raw skin just below her eye. She swallowed the painful sob building in her chest and burrowed further into herself, all of her strength zapped by the powerful magic that had nearly crushed her moments ago.

She closed her eyes for the final time that night and welcomed the night with it's demons once more.


End file.
